Fastener setting or attaching machine



April 10, 1945- J. P. TREcloKAs FASTENER .SETTING 0R ATTACHING MACHINE Filedmarch 18, 194s :s-sheeis-sheet 3 v' lNvENToR i Jacob P; Trecwhas, BY l/ 7 Patented pr. `10,l v1945 uru'rjl-:D s'rrvrlis4 PATENT OFFICE 1.

FAs'rmvEa summit ATTAUHIG. i i

Jacob P. -Trecioklaa Oakville, Conn., assignor to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application March 18, 1943, Serial No. 479,563

I l l (el. 21a-s) This invention relates to improvements in fas- 8L Claims.

tener-setting or attaching machines adapted for use in securing together parts of buttons or fastener elements lipognga supporting structure such as garmentsmo` other articles of fabric material. As herein disclosed the fastener elements may consist of an eyelet member and a hollow button member within which the shank end of the eyelet. member may be upset when attachingthe fastener members to their support.

The machine in general comprises an anvil upon which the eyelet member may be positioned with the shank projecting upwardly, a pairof jaws by which the button member may 'be positioned over the eyeletv shank, and a setting tool in the form of a 'plunger by which thebutton tionship of the jaws to the element feeding mechmism. o

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear more fully from the following description particularly when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings illustrating the preferred form of the invention wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a portion of the machine embodying the improvements, parts of which are may be releasedfrom the Ijaws and the button and eyelet secu-red together by relative move- -ment between the tool and anvil.

Heretofore, it has been the more common prac-` tice in machines of the above nature to feed the fastener element, which in this case is the button member, to the upper jaws through feed tracks from a hopper depending entirely upon the force of gravity. y In practice in conventional machines in resorting to gravity asa, feeding means, where the operator is working upon a garment or some device to' which fasteners are to be set relatively close together,v ithas been found that the operator can work faster than the speed in which the fasteners could be fed into the jaws by gravity, and, therefore, resulted quite frequently in a missing fastener or in a deformed fastener. This has` been particularly true in machines that are either foot-operated such as disclosed in the Veillette Patent No. 1,836,887, or operated by a crank connection connected to a clutch operated drive shaft, such as disclosed in the Warner Patent No. 1,575,596.

In order to overcome the above faults there is incorporated in the above type of fastener machines a. positive means for feeding the button elements into the upper jaws of the machine directly from the end of a raceway. With this change in the feeding-mechanism associated with the upper jaws it became necessary to provide a means for assuring that the jaws will be brought to button receiving position at the proper time to receive the. 'button element from the positive feeding element means.- It is, therefore, one of the objects of this invention to provide a mechanism that is operated from the setting plunger operating means for imparting return motion to the jaws to attain the proper return timing relabroken away to show better the structural details, with the upper vjaws and setting punch shown in retractedposition and the means for feeding the fastener elements into the upper jaws in partially retracted position.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the portion of the machine shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the upper jaws and associated mechanisms in an advanced position such as they assume during'the fastener setting operation.

` Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a. fragmentary view of the upper jaw feeding means .and showing a, button element in the process of being picked up from. its track `and fed intovthe jaws.

Fig. 6 is a. similar View showing the feeding means having advanced the button completely into its receptive socket in the jaws, and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken transversely at 'the end of the buttonfeed track on line 1-1 of Fig. 1 but after retraction of the feed finger.

The invention to be described is applied to a -portion of the machine comprising a bearing block Ill supported by a head Il extending upwardly and forwardly from'4 a portion of the lmachine bed plate I2 which in turn may be thrust prior to a setting operation'. These jaws I8 may be pivotally connected as` at l1 to a vertical movable slide I8 connectedb y means of a Vlink I9 with the forward end of a lever v2l), which .is adapted to rbe pivoted in an embossed portion I3a of the pedestal I3 and actuated by suitable mechanism to move the link i9 downwardly and cause the lower jaws to spread so as to remove them from the fastener element during vclosed position by means of a spring 38. The inthe setting operation. The jaws may be yieldingly held in their normal fastener' receiving position by a spring 2|.

The attaching eyelets I5 are fed from a hopper (not shown) and stacked in a raceway 22 leading to a guideway 23, and prior to each setting operation a single eyelet is picked up from the end of the raceway 22 and thrust forwardly through the guideway 2i as by means of a feed slide 2d to its proper position upon the anvil l. The feed slide 2S in turn is actuated by a link 25 operated from any suitable mechanism of the machine.

In order to supply a complementary fastener element for the attaching eyelet l5, such as a button member 25, and carry it into alignment therewith for the purpose of attaching the same upon a supporting member, means is provided in the form of a plunger 2i mounted in the bearing The feed track 36 is provided with a "IF-shaped slot or guideway, the central wider portion 4.9 of which is adapted to accommodate the enlarged lhead of thebutton elements, Vand-the narrow portion 50 of which opens through the feed track 36 and is adapted to accommodate the shank of the Y buttons.

block i@ and adapted to move longitudinally :o

with its axis in alignment with the anvil ld. To provide for the endwise movement of theJplungeL 27, it is connected by means of/adik 2S to the forked end of a main lever through a connecting pin 35. The lever 25 is pivoted as at 3i to the head ii. The lower end of the plunger 2 is provided with a setting tool or punch 32 having a reduced portion 32a for fitting into the hollow of the button member and serving to upset the end of the eyelet i 5 coincident with the setting operation. Y

-As a convenient means for positioning the button element 5 in alignment with the setting tool :it a pair of upper jaws 33 are provided and slidably mounted to an integral portion Hic. projecting from the front face of the bearing block lll. I'he lower ends of the jaws 33 are provided with inturned portions 35 that are adapted in normal position tol be aligned with a feed track '3B through which the button elements 25 are fed from a suitable hopper (not shown) in a. manner as will be more fully explained later. The upper g ends of the jaws 33, as best shown in Fig. 2, are

hingedrtogether as by -a pivot screw 31 in order to allow the lower inturned portions 35 thereof to swingoutwardly for releasing the button therefrom and allow the setting tool 32 to pass therethrough coincident with.l the setting operation, and thejaws are normally held in a clamped turned ends 3,5 of the jaws have their adjacent y faces cut out to provide a suitable recess or socket 34 for the reception of the button element 25 4when fed thereinto from the feed track 36 and also to allow for clearance for the descending setting tool 32 when removing the button from said jaws. The jaws 33 are held in slidable and fricj tional relation to the face of the block projecting portion loa as by means of screws'39 and 40 secured thereto, and the adjacent edges of the jaws are cut away to form an intermediate longitudinal slot l4l for clearing the Shanks of the screws 33 and 40. The upper screwk 39 supports a. friction washer l2 that is compressed against the face` of the jaws by means of a coil spring. The lower screw l0 supports a spreading cam member operated by means of an integral knurled head 44 for the purpose of spreading the jaws 33 manually in case itis desired to remove a fastener from the jaw ends. The jaws and associated attaching parts form no part of the present invention except inasmuch asthey cooperate therewith. and are functionally operated with the inventive features of the machine.

As was pointed out in the introductory remarks The buttons are adapted to slide by gravity from a suitable hopper (not shown) down to the arcuate portion 35a of the track where the foremost button will be stopped by a stop pin 5i and the following buttons willstack up in the T-'shapeimg slotiirhepin 5 is held normally in afdepressed position by means of a leaf spring 52 secured to the upper face of said feed track. The width of the guideway 59 is somewhat greater than the normal thickness of the button head so as to allow the buttons to be readily guided around the twisted portion ofthe track as is indicated at 36h (Fig. 1) without jamming therein. To prevent the button heads from overlapping each other when they approach the stop pin 5I .a restrictive plate 53 is secured to the arcuate portion 35a of the feed track within the upper part of the guideway 69, as shown in Fig. l.

The purpose of the abruptbend or arcuate portion 38a of the feed track is to cause the button shanks in that part of the track to assume a. radi'- ally spread position to allow for the flattened portion or feed finger end fida of a reciprocatory rod 54 to advance in alinement with the narrow rethe upper surface of the feed nger also serves as a. stop for the next succeeding button during the time that it is feeding the foremost button into the jaw ends 35. When the feed finger rod 54 has been retracted to its starting position the nextsucceeding button will then by gravity be caused to slide into engagement with the stop pin ready to be picked up by the feed finger on the next stroke. The feed finger rod .55 is slidably mounted in a bracket bearing 55 secured to the head H. y

In order to provide a safety feature in case the button elements should become stuck or jammed wtihin the jaws 33 or feed track 35 during the feeding' operation. the feed nger rod 56 is operated through a cushioned'plunger 55o Speci cally the plunger 56 is slid'ably mounted in a suitable recess 51 in head II and is provided `with a hollow interior 58 into which is received a relatively heavy compression spring 58, one end of which is abutted against the base of the hollow interior and the other end 'againstthe adjacent end of the feed finger 54. Outward movement of the feed linger relative to the plunger 56 is prevented by means of a transverse pin 60 secured to the incr end ofthe feed finger rod 54 and slidably operated in a pair of opposed longitudinal recesses 6| formed axially in the plunger 56 as shown in the sectional portion of Fig. 1. The plunger is adapted to be reciprocated through a link 62 tied into a suitable operating part of the machine.

Since it is one of the purposes of this machine to feed the fastener buttons into the recesses 34 of the jaws at a speed greater thancanbe attained by gravity due to the feeding mechanism explained immediately above, in machines that are operated through a foot-lever mechanism or from a crank oil from a clutch operated shaft, it is, of course, necessary that the jaws be returned inproper timed relationship relative to the element feeding mechanism to be in position to receive the foremost button from the track 36 into the jaw recesses 34 as said foremost button is force fed into the jaws 33 by the positive action of the feed finger rod 54. It is to be here understood that the manner in whichthe jaws 33 are carried downwardly is due to the fact that a button element is supported within the jaw recesses 34 by the clampingaction of the spring 38, and as the plunger 21 descends the setting tool 32 engages with the clamped button and causes the jaws to be carried downwith the plunger 21 until such time that the upper end of the jaw slot 4| contacts the shank of the upper screw 39 as a stop. 4-The plunger 21, however, continues to descend forcing the button' from the jaw recesses 34 and carrying it into engagement with the eyelet I5 and interposed sup-` porting sheet, whereupon the jaws will assume the position as' shown in Fig. 3, i. Ae.,. slightly l spread apart due to the fact that the setting tool 32 has been forced therethrough. i

In order to provide a means for returning the jaws 33 to proper fastener receiving position to receive the accelerated fed button from the feed finger end 5la,.the following mechanism vis provided. This mechanism to returnthe jawsfis` provided in the form of a linkage means that has a resilient connection with the jaws and is connected to the main lever through an extension member having pivotal connection with the returned to normal uppermost position, a fastener element l5 will be fed into'the jaws I6 byv means of the slide 24 in the usual manner and vheld in place upon the anvil I 4 by the lower.

jaws I6. The feed finger end 54a of the rod 54 will. after the'st'art of the feedng'of element I5 advance to pick up the foremost button in the discharge end of the feedtrack 36, causing it to snap past the stop pin 5| and into the recesses 34 of the inturned jaw ends 35, and immediately vstart, to retract before the plunger 21 descends far enough to start Amoving the-jaws downward.

During the descent of the plunger the setting tool 32 will contact the button element and, due to the clamping action of the jaws 33 upon the button, will force the button downwardly along with the embracing jaws until such time thatsthe upper `end of the longitudinal slot M of the jaws contacts the upper stationary screw 39, whereupon thejawswill come toa definite stop. The plunger, however, willcontinue to descend carrying the button with it, causing the jaws 33 to pivot for clearance purposes and' then setfthe button and eyelet upon the intermediate supporting member.

Coincident with the descent of the jaws 33 the guide-rods 64 will move faster than the jaws and slide in the abutment pins 33 dueto the expansive force of the coiled springs and the increased stroke permitted thereto from the mainv lever through the extension links 10. As shown in Fig. l the extension links 10 are normally disposed with their lower edges in contact with connectlinkage means in advance of the pivotal connection of the plunger with said lever, thus Ain fact extending the length of the lever and adding to the effective stroke that may be transmitted to the jaws. Specifically this mechanism comprises a pair of abutment pins 63 attached to the opposed side faces of the jaws 33 and having guiderods 64 slidable therethrough. Coiled compression springs 65 are supported upon the rods 63 below the abutment pins 63 and maintained upon.

the rods as by means of nuts 66 engaging the lower threaded ends thereof. The nuts allow for suitable adjustment for the springs 65 to ncrease or decrease their resilient effect as desired. The upper ends of the guide-rods are provided with rod heads `61 to which the lower ends of the connecting rods 66 are secured as by means of pivot screws 69. The upper end of each connecting rod 68 is attached to the embossed end 10a, of extension links 10 as by means of a single pin 1I passing through both links and upper ends of connecting rods 68. The extension links 1li are attached to the main lever 29 somewhat in back of the plunger link connecting pin 30 as by means ofpivot screws 12.

time that the jaws 33 and plunger 21 are being ing pin 30 which extends beyond the opposite faces of the forked end of main lever 29 primarily for that purpose. The connecting rods 66 and associated guide rods 63 will travel down until such time as the rod heads 61 ofthe latter contact the abutment pins 63 fixed to jaws 33, at which time the coil springs 35 will have expended their expansive energy and in fact be spaced somewhat apart fromsaid abutment pins 63, as

shown in Fig. 3. With the jaws 33, and therefore rods 6d and 63 in stopped position, pivoty point 1l will descend no fartherand further movement of the lever 29 will vcause pin 33 to :move away-from links 1li and' will cause the links e 16, to pivot relative to pivot connections 12 to a position such as is indicated inFig. 4. Due to the grip of friction washer i2 on jaws 33 the 4latterl will tend to remain in their lowered position so that during the upstroke of the'plunger 21 a lost motion results between the plunger 21,

jaws- 33 and .rods 63, wherein the initial move-` ment of the plunger 21 will be independent of the jaws 33 and rods G4, which will remain stationary until such time that the projecting ends of the pin 30 have risen suiciently to contact the extension links 10, whereupon the connecting rods 68 move the guide rods 66 causing the coiled springs 65 to come in contact with the abutment pins 63, and -upon suflicient compression of the coiled springs 65 to overcome the frictional factor of the washer 32 against the jaws 33 the latter will move upwardly concurrently with the guide rody 63 and be returned to starting position, which position is determined by a shoulder 13 on jaws 33 abutting against the lower cornerof block extension Illa. Further movement of the guide rods -64 relative to the jaws 33 is permitted by .the spring 65 being further compressed and serving to hold the jaw shoulder 13 more rigidly in contact with its abutment Illa an thus assuring l alinementof the jaw ends 35 with the bent discharge end 36a of the feed track 36; Upon the jaws 33 reaching the proper elevation the feed ringer end 54a of rod 8B feeds an element 2d into the recess 34 and immediately retracts to permit the descent of plunger S2.

While there has been illustrated and described a machine that has been built and successfully operated embodying the inventive concepts of my invention, it should be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the specic form disclosed in this application, but should be regarded as including modications and variations thereof within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a'fastener attaching machine for securing a fastener element to a support comprising, in combination, a bearing block` a fastener setting plunger movably mounted therein, an operating lever connected to the upper end oi said plunger, a pair of separable jaws mounted on said block and movable in the direction parallel with said plunger, means for'yi'eldingly .opposing the separation of said jaws, a pair of stops for limiting the movement of the jaws in either direction, said jaws being provided with means for receiving and retaining a fastener element in line with said plunger -which in its descent will engage said element and cause said jaws to descend with said plunger until the jaws 'will engage one stop whereupon said plunger will descend through said jaws forcing the fastener element thereout and cause said jaws to hinge outwardly againstthe influence of said yielding means, sldable means connected to said jaws, and linkage means connecting said slidable means to said operating lever in advance of the plunger connecting point whereby said linkage means and said slidable means function to impart a greater distance of travel to said jaws relative to said plunger during a portion of the upstroke.

2. In a fastener attaching machine as deilned by claim l wherein a resilient means is interposed between the jaws and slidable connecting means.

3. In a fastener attaching machine comprising, in combination, a bearing block, a plunger setting tool axially movable therein, a lever operatively connected to the upper end of said plunger, a pair of jaws frictionally mounted upon said block and having opposed recesses for receiving and operating a fastener element in alignment with said plunger setting tool, slidable means having a lost movement connection with said jaws, and linkage means connecting said slidable means to said lever in advance of the pointof ,connection of said plunger setting tool tosaid lever such that a longitudinal movement imparted to said Jaws during a part of their return stroke will be greater than the movement imparted to said plunger setting tool.

aevaeec d. In a fastener attaching machine comprising, in combination, a bearing block, a plunger setting tool axially movable therein, a. lever operatively eonnected with upper end of said plunger, a pair of jaws frictionally mounted upon said block and having opposed recesses for supporting a fastener element in alinernent with said plunger setting tool, means having slidable connection with said `laws, an extension means associated with said lever projecting a substantial distance beyond the point of plunger setting tool con--A -nectionwith said lever, and means connecting said `iaw slidable means with the distal end of said lever extension means.

5. A fastener attaching machine as defined by claim 4 wherein the lever extension means has a pivotal connection with said lever.

6. In a fastener attaching machine comprising, in combination, a bearing block, a plunger setting tool axially movable therein, a lever having a link connection with the upper end oi said plunger, a pair of jaws frictionally mounted upon said block and having opposed recesses for supporting a fastener element in alignment with. said plunger setting tool, a bearing member attaching to said jaws, means slidably mounted in said bearing-member, a compression spring compressible between one end of said slidable means and bearing member, an extension means having one end plvoted to said lever in back of said ,plunger link connection and extending to a point in advance thereof and operating against a stop on said lever, and linkage menas connecting saidv slidable means with said extension means.

". jaws having opposed recesses for supporting a fastener element in alinexnent with said plunger, means having slidable connection with said jaws, an extension means having pivotal connection with said lever inwardly of and projecting a substantial distance beyond the point of the plunger connection with said lever, lateral projections on said lever engaged by an intermediate part of said extension means, and means connecting said jaw slidable means with the distal end of 'said lever extension means.

.moon P. 'rnEcIoKAs 

